The scenes evoked memories of the carnage unleashed by former Serbian autocrat Slobodan Milosevic the last time Kosovo tried to break away from Serbia, which considers the territory its ancestral homeland.

There were disturbing signs that the riots in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, and in Kosovska Mitrovica have the blessing of nationalists in the Serbian government. The government hopes somehow to prevent the loss of the beloved province, site of an epic battle between Serbs and Turks in 1389.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's authorities have pledged repeatedly to reclaim the land, despite U.S. and other Western recognition of Kosovo's statehood. Some hard-line government ministers have praised the violent protests as "legitimate" - and in line with government policies of retaining control over Serb-populated areas.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it is time for Serbs to accept that Kosovo is no longer theirs. She also suggested it is time to drop centuries of grievance and sentimentality in the Balkans.

"We believe that the resolution of Kosovo's status will really, finally, let the Balkans begin to put its terrible history behind it," Rice said. "I mean, after all, we're talking about something from 1389 - 1389! It's time to move forward."

Serbian President Boris Tadic called an emergency meeting of the national security council and said the rioting that engulfed the capital must "never happen again."

"I most sharply condemn the violence, looting and arson," Tadic said in a statement. "There is no excuse for the violence. Nobody can justify what happened yesterday."

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence Sunday. The province, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, has not been under Serbia's control since 1999, when NATO launched air strikes to halt a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. A U.N. mission has governed Kosovo since.

The U.S. ambassador to Serbia demanded that authorities do more to guarantee the safety of foreign diplomatic missions after nationalists in Belgrade set fire to the U.S. Embassy in riots that killed one person and injured more than 150 Thursday.

The State Department ordered nonessential diplomats and the families of all American personnel at the embassy to leave Serbia after the attack.

On Friday, about 5,000 Serbs rallied in the tense town of Kosovska Mitrovica in a fifth day of protests, waving Serbian flags and chanting "Kosovo is ours!" Protesters lobbed firecrackers in a skirmish with police.

The clashes took place on the Kosovska Mitrovica bridge over the Ibar River - dividing Kosovo Serbs from ethnic Albanians. It has long been a flash point in Kosovo's restive north, where Serbs make up a large part of the populace.

"Kosovo is Serbia, and we will never surrender, despite blackmail by the European Union," Serbian government official Dragan Deletic told the crowd, which responded by chanting, "Kosovo is Serbia."

Deletic was referring to the several EU members, including Britain, Germany, France and Italy, that have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Kosovo Serbs have been venting their anger by destroying U.N. and NATO property, setting off hand grenades and staging noisy rallies. But some Serbs feared the spasm of outrage will set back their cause. Pictures of women returning repeatedly for armfuls of clothes at trashed boutiques drew particular note.

"It is sending the picture of Serbia as bandits," said Miobor Stosic, 67, a retired airline official. "We are so ashamed."

Pro-Western politicians in Serbia accused hard-line nationalists in Kostunica's government of inciting the violence.

The political parties of Tadic and Kostunica are united in a coalition government that has ruled Serbia since mid-2007. But the two differ sharply on Kosovo: Tadic says Belgrade must press on with its bid to join the EU regardless of Kosovo, and Kostunica wants to drop the plan because most EU countries intend to recognize the province's independence.

Kostunica appealed for an end to the violence.

"This directly damages our ... national interests. All those who support the fake state of Kosovo are rejoicing at the sight of violence in Belgrade," he said. He made no mention of the damaged embassies.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.